Puzzle games, eh?
(To coin a phrase.) It seems
like only months since they
were the hippest thing around
- remember Tetris? Pipe Mania? Puzznic?
Robocop II? (That wasn't a
puzzle game, actually. Ed)
But in recent weeks the
stream has dried to a
trickle, and puzzle games
look set to be in danger of
going the same
way as skateboards, futons,
'60s American sitcoms and other
other unfashionable objects.
Luckily, however, Audiogenic
been alerted to this potential
tragedy and they're attempting
to save the day with Loopz, a
game I happen to have in front of me at
this very moment.
It may sound suspiciously like a breakfast cereal or
something, but
Loopz is an altogether more serious
proposition. In traditional puzzle game style you're
presented with a grid of squares. Shapes appear one
at a time (like in
Tetris) which you must place on the
screen within a time limit so they link up (like in
Pipe
Mania) to form (you guessed it) 'loopz'. The longer the
loop the more points you get.
And that's about it, really. Simplicity is the operative
word here - there are no 'special squares', 'bonus
fruits' or anything else to worry about. There is a
choice of 3 different ways of
playing the game, though,
one of which has you trying to
replace missing bits of 'loopz'. But that's it.
Honest.
The obvious thing to do now would be
to unleash a flood of the usual puzzle
game reviewing phrases like
'maddeningly addictive' or 'couldn't
tear myself away', but the trouble is that
Loopz isn't really all that addictive, I'm
afraid. Not enormously so, anyway. And I'm
not entirely sure why. It seems pretty much
like any other puzzle game, so one would
expect to be hooked to it for hours. But
instead it's only averagely addictive. I
derived a moderate amount of enjoyment
from it, but had no difficulty in switching it
off to watch the weather forecast. Get
the idea?
Perhaps if they'd taken a little more trouble
over the graphics, and possibly thrown in a
few surprises,
Loopz would have been
another essential puzzle game purchase.
Instead it's a game you might possibly want
to invest some left-over pocket money in,
especially if you enjoyed its forebears, but not one
that's going to set your underwear
alight.
| Ratings given by other magazines |
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7/10
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8/10
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| Info supplied by the SPOT*ON database |
